Sustainable Resource Development (LAWS90252)

Sustainability has become a critical factor in the development of Australia’s mineral and energy resources as companies and regulators seek to balance the competing requirements of the environment, society and the economy. This subject aims to give a clear understanding of the meaning of sustainability and the principles that underpin sustainability law and policy in the context of mineral and energy resources. It will examine the sustainability objectives of mining and energy approvals and regulation in Australia, how natural resource companies are responding to them and the related governance issues.

Principal topics will include:

• The development of sustainability law and policy in Australia and its relationship to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
• The key principles of Section 3 A of the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth) relating to ecologically sustainable development and its clones.
• Intergenerational equity and developing a methodology for assessing how resources regulatory regimes treat sustainability.
• Sustainability case law in Australia, particularly the judgements of the Land and Environment Court in New South Wales and judicial decisions on climate change.
• Sustainability in petroleum licensing regimes: a comparison of Norway, the United Kingdom and Australia.
• Sustainability in mining regulation: a comparison of coal mining in New South Wales and mining in Victoria and Western Australia.
• Sustainability issues with solar and wind power.
• Human rights and international best practice in resource development.
• Sustainability and directors’ duties and corporate governance.